'Best of the World' with Antoni Porowski highlights global connections

NEW YORK -- Food, art and community are just some of the reasons people travel. Now, all three are at the heart of a new show travelers will want to put on their radar.

National Geographic is known for its "Best of the World" lists, and this year, they are getting a little help.

You may know him from "Queer Eye," and Entertainment reporter Joelle Garguilo knew him even before that.

"We were cast on 'Queer Eye,' so this is right where you and I met," Antoni Porowski said. "We were in this weird flux where it was like, do I go back to waiting tables and working at the gallery?"

That first season changed everything, and now Porowski is on a new quest with a new docuseries. "Nat Geo's Best of the World With Antoni Porowski" takes viewers around the globe but goes far beyond typical city icons.

In the first episode, Porowski asks: What makes something the best?

"I very consciously wanted to ask that question and make sure it made it into the final cut, because one of the most intimidating titles is 'Best of the World,'" he said. "It can mean something completely different to different people."

For Porowski, the answer comes down to connection.

"The best for me, all of my core memories when I come back from a trip, are always the human stories," he said. "It's always the people that I meet. It's the girl who's been knitting a rug and will be for eight years at the Salon Mobilier in Paris, who's a Swiftie, to the guy who's running Big Ben, to chef Elena Reygadas in Mexico City, who traveled to London to become a Michelin-starred chef with all these accolades and then decided the tomatoes here aren't as good as they are back home."

He said those kinds of moments are what keep him excited for what comes next.

"Best of the World With Antoni Porowski" premieres Sunday on National Geographic and will stream the next day on Hulu and Disney+.

Disney is the parent company of this station.